Fare-box



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

. W. A. GROWDUS.

FARE BOX.

N01 382,756. Patented May 15, 1888.

mTIMSSGS Irwmiar (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. A. GROWDUS.

FARE BOX.

No. 382,756. Patented May 15,1888.

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Wz'me'ww. M W fzzwzzio UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER A. OROWDUS, or DALLAS, TExAs.

FARE- BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 382,756, dated May 15,1888.

Application filed August 3, 1887. Serial No. 246,002. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WALTER A. Cnownus,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Dallas, county of Dallas,State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inElectrical Fare-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

United States Letters Patent No. 357,372, granted to me on February 8,1887, for im- IO provements in street-car fare-boxes, embody viceconsisting of a narrow trough fitted in the box adapted to be operatedfrom both sides of the box and to receive money from the passengers sideand transfer it to the drivers side, and reverse the operation with thechange given by the driver; secondly, in operating a fare-register bymeans of the actuating device of the plate which releases the depositedfares from the balanced circuit-closers or fare-announcer, so that eachtime said plate is moved to release afare therefrom the register isactuated; thirdly, of a trap located in the chute down which the faresslide to the fare-announcer, said trap being operated from the platewhich holds the fares thereon, so as to 3 5 close the chute and preventother fares from falling on the fare-announcer while said plate is beingmoved to release the fares therefrom, all of which,with other minorimprovements, will be now fully described, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is an elevation of the side of the box facing the interior ofthe car. Fig. 2 is a vertical section cut on the line :0 00. Fig. 3 is acentral vertical section. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the upper partof the box cut on the line y y, Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged hori=zontal section of the fare-register.

The fare-box is similar in construction to that shown in mybeforementioned Letters Patent No. 357,372, and all parts thereof thatit is necessary to describe in conjunction with the new devices formingthe subject of this invention are designated in the drawingsaccompanying this specification by similar letters of reference, towhich I will refer before describing what is new.

The plate of glass at covers the front or car side, and the plate ofglass a the rear or drivers side of the box. One end of the box a isdouble, forming a chamber in which is placed the lever 1", connected tothe shaft of the glass plate t. This plate 2 extends across the interiorof the box and holds the fares upon the fareannouncer orelectric-circuitclosing fingers j, which are pivoted at the bottom ofthe chute, one side of which chute is formed by the glass plate h, andthe other side by the platet' and the side of the receptacle holding thebell cl and electro-magnet e. The pullrod 1; is connected to the leveri, and extends through the drivers side of the box. The lever q isattached to the shaft of the trap q, upon which the fares are droppedfrom the fingers j, and the pull g is connected to the lever q andextends through the drivers side of the box.

0 represents the slit through which the fares are deposited into thebox.

It and k are studs forming the electrical terminals g, the small glowlamp r, the money-drawer at the bottom of the box, and l and m linesjoined to the electro-magnet e and the terminal is, forming a circuitwhich in the said patent is closed by an ordinary push-button, therebycausing the call-bell to ring and attract the drivers attention, butwhich in this invention is closed by a new device to be hereinafterdescribed; and m, a line joining the contact-rod j of the fareannouneerto the electromagnetic bell 6. These are the only electrical connectionsit is necessary here to show to enable a full understanding of thepresent improvements to be had.

The fare-register is placed in the narrow space at the upper part of thebox between the glass plate a and the side It of the chute. vIt isespecially designed for this fare-box, and has but little depth, as thisspace, the only available part of the box for the purpose, is verylimited, and it is operated from the pull 5 which the driver actuatesfor each fare deposited in the box. This register has a central shaft,1), to which the pointer b and ratchet-wheel l) are connected, and onwhich the wheelf, carrying the pointerf, is fitted to rotate. One end ofthe spring I) is also fastened to the shaft Z), the other end beingsecured to the frame of the register. The ratchet-wheel b carries thewheel a, which meshes into the wheel it, provided with a tooth, narranged to act on the wheel f so as to move it one tooth each time thewheel 1) makes a full revolution.

The means for conveying motion to the reg ister from the pull consistsof the springpawl o, the lever o, to one end of which it is pivoted, andthe link 0 connecting the other end of the lever 0 to the arm 0connected to or forming a part of the arm i. This arm 2' is fastened tothe shaft of the plate i, which holds the fares on the balanced fingersjso that they come in contact with the rod j thereby closing thebell-eircuit by means of the lines in m.

0 is a retention-pawl acting on the wheel 7L2, and f a retention devicefor the wheel f.

The dial is provided with two concentric divided circles, the outer one,Z), indicating the number of litres, and theinncr one, f, the amount ofmoney in dollars corresponding to the number of fares represented by onefull movement of the pointer 1) around the circle b. These circles maybe made to indicate any amounts of fares and money desired.

In the drawings, Z) represents forty fares, which, at five cents each,will be two dollars, this being the amount represented by each divisionof the circlef At the end of each day, or at other selected times, afteran account has been taken of the fares indicated by the register, it isrequired to set it back to zero. This the collector does by moving thearm 11, which projects up wardly from the retention pawl 0, and to whichhe has access upon opening the hinged cover carrying the slit 0 towardthe left, there by moving the pawl clear of the wheel 0-, and at thesame time throwing the pawl 0 back by the action of this arm p on thearm p, which projects from the pawl 0. This allows the spring I) toreact on the shaft b, it having been gradually wound up by the action ofthe pawl 0 upon the wheel I)", thus turning the wheels I)" and f, withtheir respective pointers, backward until stopped by contact of theprojecting tooth p on the side of the wheelf with the stop 12".

To avoid liability of mistake by the driver in the registration offares, a hinged trap, s, is located in the chute and is raised up toclose the chute by the arms 8, extending from the fare'releasing platei, when this plate is actuated by the driver to drop a fare from thefingersj, so that if another fare be deposited in the box during suchtime it will be retained on the trap 3 until the driver allows the plateito close the bottom of the chute, thus preventing such fare frompassing through the chute without the cognizance of the driver.

The dotted lines 8 show the closed position of this trap s.

The device for facilitating the transfer of bills or coins requiring tobe changed from the passengers to the driver, and the change thereforfrom the driver to the passengers, consists of the narrow triangulartrough t, pivoted in the lower end of the double side a and held in itsnormal position (shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2) by the spring 16, inwhich position it closes the openings on both sides of the box. The wireZ from the spring contact-piece it, which is located in the path of thetop edges of the ends of the trough i, is connected to the coils of theelectro-magnet c, the other end of which is joined to the terminal 7;,and the wire in connects the trough t to the other terminal, 7t. Now,when a passenger moves the trough into the position shown in Fig. 1, andby the full lines in Fig. 2, and places the bill or coin for which herequires change in the trough, and then releases it, the spring 16'moves it into its normal position, the edge t closing the circuit eachtime it passes the spring-contact i thus causing the electric bell toact and attract the drivers attention. The driver then swings the troughover through his side of the box, substitutes the full change for thebill or coin, and allows the trough to again assume its nor malposition, the bell-circuit being by such actions closed by the edge 1eoiningin contact with the springt Thepa-ssengerthen removes the changefrom the trough and deposits the amount necessary for his fare in theslit 0. The handles '6 6 provide means for operating the trough.

To prevent tampering with or removal of the money deposited in thedrawer r, a trap, 9-, is hinged to one side of the opening through whichthe money enters the drawer, and is held in an inclined position by thepin 2' pro jecting from the side of the drawer, so that it the box istipped everso little in an endeavor to cause the money to slide out ofthe drawer through the opening said trap immediately closes the opening.

Having now described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s-

1. In a fare-box, in combination, a chute down which the fares aredropped, an electro magnetic bell, balanced fingers at the bottom of thechute provided with electrical connections for closing the bell-circuit,a pivoted plate for holding the fares on the fingers, provided with anoperating-lever, a fare-register, and mechanism connecting the lever ofthe pivoted plate to the register, substantially as and for the purposeset forth.

2. The combination, with a Iarebox pro vided with an opening extendingthrough it, of a trough pivoted centrally in the opening and normallyclosing both sides of the same, adapted to be moved so as to open onlyone side at, a time, and a spring connected to the trough to normallyhold it in central position.

3. In a fare-box, in combination, a trough pivoted therein and adaptedto be moved so as to project through openings in two opposite sides ofthe boX, a spring connected to the 5 trough to cause it to normallyclose both openings, an electro-magnetic bell, a contact-spring, andlines connecting th etrough, contact-spring, and electromagnetic bell inan electric circuit, substantially as set forth.

: 4. In a fare-box, in combination, a chute down which the fares aredropped, a pivoted plate normally closing the lower side of the chute, ahinged trap located in the upper part of the chute normally open, and anarm pro- I jecting from the pivoted plate, whereby the trap ispositively operated to close the chute when the pivoted plate isactuated to drop the fares from the lower end of the chute.

5. In a farebOX, in combination, a chute down which the fares aredropped, an electromagnetic bell, balanced fingers at the bottom of thechute provided with electrical connections for closing the bell-circuit,a pivoted plate for holding the fares on the fingers, provided with anoperating-lever, a hinged trap located in the chute, and means,substantially as described, for causing the trap to close the chute whenthe pivoted plate is actuated to drop the lower end of the chute.

6. In a fare-box, in combination, a pivoted o fare-retaining plate, afare-register, a chute for directing the fares to the retaining-plate,which normally closes the lower end of the chute, a hinged trap in theupper end of the chute normally open, and means, substantially asdescribed, whereby the fare-register is operated and the hinged trappositively closed when the retaining-plate is actuated to drop a fare.

Signed at New York, county and State of 0 New York, this 1st day ofAugust, 1887.

WALTER A. OROWDUS.

In presence of- H. D. WILLIAMS, T. E. TOMLINSON, Jr.

